Britain's National Archives disclosed every reported UFO sighting from 1959 through 1992. This chart shows the prevalence, by year, and the locations of the sightings in 1990-1992. Can you spot the pattern in this chart from the Guardian newspaper?

Well, first off, it looks as though people in the early 1990s mostly saw UFOs in major metropolitan areas — although it looks like there were a lot in Hull. Also — and this might just be obsessive fandom speaking –- but doesn't it look like there's a correlation between the number of UFO sightings per year, and the popularity of homegrown science fiction classic Doctor Who? You'll notice the sightings drop off almost completely after Who gets canceled in the late 1980s.

Head over to the Guardian for the nifty interactive version of the map. [Guardian]